Breast cancer diagnosed during pregnancy (BCP) is rare, but the prevalence is expected to rise. Long-term follow-up data regarding this clinically challenging condition are scarce. The main objective ...of this multicentre case-control French study was to compare the survival between pregnant patients and matched controls.
Patients from 27 centres diagnosed between 2000 and 2009 with histologically proven invasive breast cancer occurring during pregnancy were retrospectively included. Controls were matched to BCP patients on age, clinical T stage, hormone receptor, HER2, administration of neo-adjuvant chemotherapy and pathological node involvement in the absence of neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. Five-year overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS) and metastasis-free survival (MFS) rates were estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method.
One hundred and eleven BCP patients and 253 controls were included. Median age was 33 and 35 years, respectively. Both populations were managed similarly, except for less frequent sentinel node dissection (p = 0.026) and taxane administration (p = 0.03) among BCP patients. Median follow-up was 7.5 years. Survival rates were similar between both BCP and control patients: 5-year OS rates were 83.1% (95% CI: 74.5–89.0) vs 85.5% (95% CI: 80.4–89.4), respectively, p = 0.31; 5-year DFS rates 60.0% (95% CI: 50.1–68.6) vs 68.5% (95% CI: 62.3–73.9), respectively, p = 0.12 and 5-year MFS rates 71.0% (95% CI: 61.3–78.6) and 74.5% (95% CI: 68.6–79.5), respectively, p = 0.21.
Our study showed that the survival outcomes of patients diagnosed with BCP were not significantly different as compared to those of matched non-pregnant controls. A proper management of women diagnosed with BCP is crucial.
•Pregnancy at the time of breast cancer diagnosis was not associated with worse outcomes.•According to IHC classification, the prognosis was the same in both groups.•Proper management of women diagnosed with breast cancer during pregnancy is crucial.
Abstract Aim Women of reproductive age with breast cancer generally receive gonadotoxic chemotherapy. Fertility issues are of great concern for them. However, little is known on ovarian damage during ...chemotherapy and its evolution during long-term follow-up. The aim of this study was to provide a detailed description of serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) evolution during chemotherapy and 24-month follow-up. Methods This prospective cohort study was conducted in 250 patients, aged 18–39 years, diagnosed with breast cancer and treated with adjuvant/neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Each patient underwent blood AMH measurement at each chemotherapy cycle, and at 6, 12 and 24 months after chemotherapy. Menses occurrence was also recorded. Results Mean basal AMH level was 4.19 ± 4.84 ng/mL, and was negatively correlated with age. Serum AMH level rapidly decreased in all patients after each chemotherapy cycle to undetectable levels in most of them, and slowly increased in 45% of the patients during the 24-month follow-up. AMH decrease was significantly associated with age and basal AMH level, but not with cyclophosphamide dose and tamoxifen use. The prevalence of chemotherapy-related amenorrhoea was 92.4% at the end of chemotherapy; women with amenorrhoea being significantly older and having lower basal AMH than women who resumed menses. Conclusions Our study confirms rapid and deep ovarian reserve alteration in young women receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer, and shows moderate AMH recovery in some patients. Although AMH cannot alone predict fertility potential, these new data emphasise the need for post-treatment ovarian insufficiency follow-up, strongly support the use of fertility preservation strategies and may provide new tools for improved counselling.
Purpose
In LOTUS (NCT02162719), adding the oral AKT inhibitor ipatasertib to first-line paclitaxel for locally advanced/metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (aTNBC) improved progression-free ...survival (PFS; primary endpoint), with an enhanced effect in patients with
PIK3CA/AKT1/PTEN
-altered tumors (FoundationOne next-generation sequencing NGS assay). We report final overall survival (OS) results.
Methods
Eligible patients had measurable previously untreated aTNBC. Patients were stratified by prior (neo)adjuvant therapy, chemotherapy-free interval, and tumor immunohistochemistry PTEN status, and were randomized 1:1 to paclitaxel 80 mg/m
2
(days 1, 8, 15) plus ipatasertib 400 mg or placebo (days 1–21) every 28 days until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. OS (intent-to-treat ITT, immunohistochemistry PTEN-low, and PI3K/AKT pathway-activated NGS
PIK3CA/AKT1/PTEN
-altered populations) was a secondary endpoint.
Results
Median follow-up was 19.0 versus 16.0 months in the ipatasertib–paclitaxel versus placebo–paclitaxel arms, respectively. In the ITT population (
n
= 124), median OS was numerically longer with ipatasertib–paclitaxel than placebo–paclitaxel (hazard ratio 0.80, 95% CI 0.50–1.28; median 25.8 vs 16.9 months, respectively; 1-year OS 83% vs 68%). Likewise, median OS favored ipatasertib–paclitaxel in the PTEN-low (
n
= 48; 23.1 vs 15.8 months; hazard ratio 0.83) and
PIK3CA/AKT1/PTEN
-altered (
n
= 42; 25.8 vs 22.1 months; hazard ratio 1.13) subgroups. The ipatasertib–paclitaxel safety profile was unchanged.
Conclusions
Final OS results show a numerical trend favoring ipatasertib–paclitaxel and median OS exceeding 2 years with ipatasertib–paclitaxel. Overall, results are consistent with the reported PFS benefit; interpretation within biomarker-defined subgroups is complicated by small sample sizes and TNBC heterogeneity.
For hormone receptor–positive (HR+) human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2-) negative metastatic breast cancer (MBC), international guidelines recommend endocrine therapy as first-line ...treatment, except in case of ‘visceral crisis’. In the latter case, chemotherapy is preferred. Few studies have compared these two strategies. We used the Epidemiological Strategy and Medical Economics (ESME) programme, UNICANCER, a large national observational database (NCT03275311), to address this question.
All patients who initiated treatment for a newly diagnosed HR+ HER2-negative MBC between January 2008 and December 2014 in any of the 18 French Comprehensive Cancer Centers participating to ESME were selected. Patients should be aromatase inhibitor (AI)–sensitive (no previous AI or relapse occurring more than 1 year after last adjuvant AI). Objectives of the study were evaluation of progression-free and overall survival (OS) according to the type of first-line treatment adjusted on main prognostic factors using a propensity score.
Six thousand two hundred sixty-five patients were selected: 2733 (43.6%) received endocrine therapy alone, while 3532 (56.4%) received chemotherapy as first-line therapy. Among the latter, 2073 (58.7%) received maintenance endocrine therapy. Median OS was 60.78 months (95% confidence interval CI, 57.16–64.09) and 49.64 months (95% CI, 47.31–51.64; p < 0.0001) for patients receiving endocrine therapy alone and chemotherapy ± maintenance endocrine therapy, respectively. However, this difference was not significant after adjusting on the propensity score (hazard ratio: 0.943, 95% CI 0.863–1.030, p = 0.19).
In this large retrospective cohort of patients with AI-sensitive metastatic luminal BC, OS was similar, whether first-line treatment was chemotherapy or endocrine therapy. In agreement with international guidelines, endocrine therapy should be the first choice for first-line systemic treatment for MBC in the absence of visceral crisis.
Treatment strategies for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) have made great strides over the past 10 years. Real-world data allow us to evaluate the actual benefit of new treatments. ESME ...(Epidemio-Strategy-Medico-Economical)-MBC, a nationwide observational cohort (NCT03275311), gathers data of all consecutive MBC patients who initiated their treatment in 18 French Cancer Centres since 2008.
We evaluated overall survival (OS) in the whole cohort (N = 20 446) and among subtypes: hormone receptor positive, human epidermal growth factor 2 negative (HR+/HER2−; N = 13 590), HER2+ (N = 3919), and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC; N = 2937). We performed multivariable analyses including year of MBC diagnosis as one of the covariates, to assess the potential OS improvement over time, and we described exposure to newly released drugs at any time during MBC history by year of diagnosis (YOD).
The median follow-up of the whole cohort was 65.5 months (95% CI 64.6-66.7). Year of metastatic diagnosis appears as a strong independent prognostic factor for OS Year 2016 HR 0.89 (95% CI 0.82-0.97); P = 0.009, using 2008 as reference. This effect is driven by the HER2+ subcohort, where it is dramatic Year 2016 HR 0.52 (95% CI 0.42-0.66); P < 0.001, using 2008 as reference. YOD had, however, no sustained impact on OS among patients with TNBC Year 2016 HR 0.93 (95% CI 0.77-1.11); P = 0.41, using 2008 as reference nor among those with HR+/HER2– MBC Year 2016 HR 1.02 (95% CI 0.91-1.13); P = 0.41, using 2008 as reference. While exposure to newly released anti-HER2 therapies appeared very high (e.g. >70% of patients received pertuzumab from 2016 onwards), use of everolimus or eribulin was recorded in less than one-third of HR+/HER2– and TNBC cohorts, respectively, whatever YOD.
OS has dramatically improved among HER2+ MBC patients, probably in association with the release of several major HER2-directed therapies, whose penetrance was high. This trend was not observed in the other subtypes, but the impact of CDK4/6 inhibitors cannot yet be assessed.
•OS of HER2+ MBC patients keeps improving over time Year 2016 HR 0.52 (95% CI 0.42-0.66); P < 0.001, using 2008 as reference.•This effect seems timely related to the release of drugs demonstrated to improve survival in clinical trials.•OS gains observed in real life among HER2+ MBC patients are at least equivalent to those observed in clinical trials.•YOD had no sustained impact on OS among patients with TNBC and luminal MBC.•The impact of CDK4/6 inhibitors cannot yet be assessed in this cohort.
Bevacizumab combined with paclitaxel as first-line chemotherapy for patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (MBC) has led to mixed results in randomized trials, with an improvement in ...progression-free survival (PFS) but no statistically significant overall survival (OS) benefit. Real-life data could help in assessing the value of this combination.
This study aimed to describe the outcome following first-line paclitaxel with or without bevacizumab in the French Epidemiological Strategy and Medical Economics (ESME) database of MBC patients, established in 2014 by Unicancer. The primary and secondary end points were OS and PFS, respectively.
From 2008 to 2013, 14 014 MBC patient files were identified, including 10 605 patients with a HER2-negative status. Of these, 3426 received paclitaxel and bevacizumab (2127) or paclitaxel (1299) as first-line chemotherapy. OS adjusted for major prognostic factors was significantly longer in the paclitaxel and bevacizumab group compared with paclitaxel hazard ratio (HR) 0.672, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.601–0.752; median survival time 27.7 versus 19.8 months. Results were consistent in all supportive analyses (using a propensity score for adjustment and as a matching factor for nested case–control analyses) and sensitivity analyses. Similar results were observed for the adjusted PFS, favoring the combination (HR 0.739, 95% CI 0.672–0.813; 8.1 versus 6.4 months).
In this large-scale, real-life setting, patients with HER2-negative MBC who received paclitaxel plus bevacizumab as first-line chemotherapy had a significantly better OS and PFS than those receiving paclitaxel. Despite robust methodology, real-life data are exposed to important potential biases, and therefore, results need to be treated with caution. Our data cannot therefore support extension of current use of bevacizumab in MBC.
Efficacy of endocrine therapy in HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer could differ depending on the presence of BRCA1/2 germline mutation.
The ESME metastatic breast cancer platform (NCT03275311) is a ...French real world database. Multivariable models including a time-varying approach and landmark analyses assessed the association between time-dependent gBRCA status (categorised as gBRCAm, gBRCAwt (wild type), and untested), overall survival (OS), and first-line progression-free survival (PFS1).
A total of 170 patients were gBRCAm carriers, 676 gBRCAwt, and 12,930 were untested at baseline. In the multivariable analysis, gBRCAm carriers overall had a lower OS compared to gBRCAwt (adjusted HR 95% CI 1.26 1.03-1.55). gBRCAm patients treated with front-line endocrine therapy had lower adjusted OS (adjusted HR 95% CI = 1.54 1.03-2.32) and PFS1 (adjusted HR 95% CI 1.58 1.17-2.12) compared to gBRCAwt patients. However, for patients who received frontline chemotherapy, neither OS nor PFS1 differed between gBRCAm carriers and the other groups (HR versus gBRCAwt for OS: 1.12 0.88-1.41, p = 0.350; PFS1: 1.09 0.90-1.31, p = 0.379).
In this large cohort of HR+/HER2- MBC patients treated in a pre-CDK4/6 inhibitors era, gBRCAm status was associated with a lower OS and lower PFS following first-line endocrine therapy, but not following first-line chemotherapy.
Data regarding the role of chemotherapy (CT) in patients with recurrent and/or unresectable desmoid tumors (DTs) are scarce.
Records of patients with DT who were treated with CT in centers from the ...French Sarcoma Group were reviewed.
Sixty-two patients entered the study. The two most common locations were extremities (35.5%) and internal trunk (32.5%). Twelve patients (19.5%) were diagnosed with Gardner syndrome. Thirty-seven patients (54.7%) received previously one or more lines of systemic therapies (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: 43.5%, antiestrogens: 43.5% and imatinib: 30.5%). Combination CT was delivered in 44 cases (71%) and single agent in 18 patients (29%), respectively. Thirteen patients (21%) received an anthracycline-containing regimen. The most frequent nonanthracycline regimen was the methotrexate–vinblastine combination (n = 27). Complete response, partial response, stable disease and progressive disease were observed in 1 (1.6%), 12 (19.4%), 37 (59.6%) and 12 (19.4%) patients, respectively. The response rate was higher with anthracycline-containing regimens: 54% versus 12%, P = 0.0011. Median progression-free survival (PFS) was 40.8 months. The sole factor associated with improved PFS was the nonlimb location: 12.1 months (95% confidence interval 5.6–18.7) versus not reached, P = 0.03.
CT has significant activity in DT. Anthracycline-containing regimens appear to be associated with a higher response rate.